Hosiery-singeing machine.



No. 64l,6l8. Patented Jan. l6, I900.

F. WUNDERLY.

HDSIERY SINGEING MAGHiNE.

(Application filed Apr. 6, 1899.) (No Model.)

Tu: scams PUERs 0o. PHOTO-LITMQ. WASHINGTON. u. c.

NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

MEYER AND WILLIAM C. FOULDS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

HOSIERY-SINGEING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,618, dated January 16, 1900.

I Application filed April 6, 1899. $eria1No. 712,010. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED WUNDERLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nazareth, in the county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Machines for Singeing Stockings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full; clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. V

My present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in singeing-machines, and more particularly to machines for singeing hosiery to remove the fine fly or fuzz therefrom, so as to give to the articles a high grade of finish.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple machine comprising a comparatively small number of operating parts and one easy to operate and not likely to get out of order.

A further and important object of the invention is to provide a machine so construct ed and arranged as to singe both sides of the stocking at once, thereby adding greatly to the capacity of the machine, and consequently reducing the cost of the sin geing operation.

Briefly and specifically stated, the invention comprises a suitable bed-frame carrying feed and delivery tables arranged at opposite ends thereof, two pairs of feeding-rollers, with mechanism for operating them, and a pair of burner-tubes located intermediate the said feed-rollers and arranged in close proximity to each other, but preferably out of a vertical line, said burners being constructed to throw their flames outward at an angle and preferably toward each other, so as to act upon and'singe both sides of the stocking at one operation as they are fed between the burners by the feed-rollers.

The invention comprises other novel features of construction and details of parts to be hereinafter more definitelydescribed, and then particularly pointed out in the claims which conclude this specification.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my said invention, I will once being had for this purpose to the accoui- I panying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a top plan View. Fig. 4 is a detail View of my improved form-of burners. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the board or former over which the stockings are stripped when passed through the machine.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference-numeral 1 designates the base or bed frame of the machine, which is preferably made of cast-iron, and upon opposite sides of this frame, at each end thereof, are bolted wooden supports 2, which extend outward therefrom, as shown, and upon these supports rest the feeding-table 3 and receivingtable 4, respectively. Journaled in suitable bearings in the said base-frame are two lower shafts 5, each carrying a gear 6 at one end, and intermediate said gears is a stub-axle 7, carrying an intermediate gear 8,which meshes with the said gears 6 to transmit power from one to the other, whereby they will be rotated in unison. Power is applied to one of the shafts 5 through a belt (not shown) passed over a pulley 9, fixed to the outer end of one of the shafts 5. By preference I arrange a loose pulley 10 adjacent to the pulley 9 on the shaft 5, so that the said belt may be shifted from one pulley to the other in order to operate the gears or allow them to remain at carries a hollow metal feeding-roller 15, which is fixed to its respective shaft so as to rotate therewith. The rollers of each pair are nearly in contact with each other, as will be seen, and this point of peripheral contact of the rollers is on a line or level with the feeding and receiving tables 3 and 4, for a purpose presently to appear.

Between the upper pair of shafts 12, at one side of the machine, the bed-frame is formed with an extension 16, provided with two apertures to receive and support the burnertubes now to be explained.

The bu ruers consist of a main tube 17, which leads from some suitable source of supply, as a vaporizer 1S, and passes through one of the apertures in the extension 16 and extends transversely across the machine, as shown. One side of said tube near the bottom thereof is provided with a plurality of fine jetopenings 19, preferably arranged in rows, the said openings being so disposed as to shoot a flame therefrom in an upwardly-inclined direction. Arranged parallel to the said main tube 17 and in close proximity thereto is a second or branch tube 20, which latter is located above and preferably slightly in rear of the said main tube-that is, slightly out of a vertical line-and this tube also passes through an opening in the extension 16 of the bed-frame and joins the main tube 17 at a point 21 outside the frame, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. This branch tube is likewise provided with fine jet-openings 22; but these openings are disposed at one side thereof near the bottom of the tube, so as to conduct its flame in a downward-inclined direction toward the flame of the upper tube; but it will be noted that in view of the fact that the lower tube is located in advance of the upper tube the flames are not directed to a common point, and there will therefore be no danger of the flames uniting, which might result in burning or scorching the articles passed between them. By preference I make the jetopenings 19 in the lower tube considerably smaller than those in the upper tube, so that the flame formed by this lower tube will be only about one-half the size of that formed by the upper tube; but although the flame is smaller its heat will be equally as intense, owing to its natural tendency to travel in an upward direction.

By arranging the two burner-tubes in close proximity to each other and having their flames directed upward and downward, respectively, it will be seen that should an article, such as a stocking, be passed between the flame all the long surplus fibers or fly will be closely singed therefrom at one and the same operation, and this I consider to be an important desiderat-um in this class of singeing-machines, as it saves considerable time and labor, and consequently greatly reduces the cost of the singeing operation.

The feeding-table 3 is provided with two parallel guides 23, as shown, so located in a direct line with the feed-rollers as to cause the stockings and their former or stripper board 2-1: to pass evenly and squarely between the said feed-rollers and burners.

The operation of the machine will be readily understood from the foregoing description and following brief statement: The stockings to be treated or singed are first stripped upon the boards or formers 24, whereby they are stretched or distended, and the machine being set in motion so as to rotate the feedrollers in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, the said formers and their stockings are placed between the guides 23 on the feeding-table and pushed forward until gripped by the first set of feeding-rollers. The upper rollers be ing mounted in slide-bearings or U-shaped slots are allowed a suflicient vertical movement to compensate for the thickness of the former-board and surrounding stocking and do not therefore mash or unduly press the latter, but only grip them with sufficient force to cause a forward feed between the burners and flames where the superfluous fibers are singed away, and they are then caught by the second set of rollers and delivered in a finished condition upon the delivery or receiving table 4,, from whence theyare removed, as desired.

By stripping the stockings to be singed over a former, such as 24:, which is some what larger than the stocking, it will be seen that the latter will be stretched or distended in all directions, so that the threads are abnormally separated or 'pulled apart, and by this operation the jets of flame can act upon all parts of the stocking to more effectually perform the singeing operation. This is especially advantageous in singeing what are known as ribbed stockings. Furthermore, it will be seen that by the use of the former the stockings will be supported in a practically rigid condition during the feeding and singeing operation. Thus I am enabled to dispense with other supporting means for the stockings during their passage through the machine. It will also be observed that the former when placed within the stocking will prevent the two jets of flame from uniting during the passage of the former and surrounding stocking between the said jets. Thus there will be no danger of burning or scorching the stocking during the singeing operation, the former in this case acting as a barrier to the flames and keeping them from uniting.

It will be seen that the machine is very compact and comprises only a very few operating parts, and these are so constructed and arranged that there is little likelihood of their ever getting out of order. In the drawings I have shown the burners as being supplied with gas from a hydrocarbongenerator but I do not wish to be limited to such, for obviously any form of gassuppl y may be employed.

While I have stated that by preference the gas-exit openings in the lower burner-tube will be made smaller than the openings in the upper tube, still I do not wish to confine myself to this arrangement, for it will be obvious that I may bring about the same result by making the openings in both tubes of the same size and simply reduce the size of the opening in the gas-entrance end of the lower burner-tube, which would result in supplying a less quantity of gas to this tube, and consequently reduce the size of the flame.

I have heretofore stated that the rollers 15 are made hollow, and I consider this to be very important, for the reason that they will thus be kept practically cool, which would not be the case if they were solid. These rollers are arranged in quite close proximity to the burners and would become extremely hot if they were not provided with end openings to admit the external atmosphere for ventilating purposes. Furthermore, the rollers are comparatively large in size, and will thus afford a better grip upon the articles and give a more uniform feed. In the practical embodiment of my machine the two pairs of rollers are arranged in quite close relation to each other, so that short as well as long stockings can be passed between them with facility and good eifect.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a singeing-machine, a pair of burners located in close proximity to each other and each provided with jet-openings arranged to produce an upward and a downward disposed flame,-respectively, a feeding-table at one end of the machine and a receiving-table at the other end, and means for causing the article to be singed to travel from the feedingtable, between the burners, and to be delivered onto the receiving-table.

2. In a stocking-singeing machine, a pair of burners located in different planes and each having jet-openings therein arranged to direct their flames in an upward and a downward direction, respectively, a feeding-table at one end of the machine and a receivingtable at the other end, and feed-rollers arranged adjacent to the said burners and adapted to conduct the stockings to be singed, from the feeding-table, between the burners and deliver them onto the receiving-table.

3. In astocking-singeing machine, the combination with the bed-frame, of a table arranged at each end thereof, two pairs of feed rollers journaled in bearings on said bed frame, a train of gears connecting said roll ers to rotate them in unison, and a suitable burner or burners located intermediate the said feed-rollers, out of a line taken horizontally along the level of the said tables.

4.. In a stocking-singeing machine, the conibination with the bed-frame, of a table arranged at each end thereof, two pairs of feed rollers journaled in bearings on said frame, a train of gears connecting said rollers to cause them to rotate in unison, and a pair of burner-tubes located intermediate the said feed-rollers, and each provided with jet-openings arranged to produce an upward and a downward flame, respectively, the parts cooperating, substantially as described.

5. In a stocking-singeing machine, the combination with the bed-frame, of a table arranged at each end thereof, a pair of lower feed-rollers, a pair of upper feed-rollers arranged above the said lower rollers, the adjacent peripheries of said rollers being on a level with the said tables, means for causing said rollers to rotate in unison, a main burner= tube supported by an extension on the said bed-frame and arranged between the feedrollers on a line slightly below the level of the tables and a branch burner-tube arranged parallel with the said main tube, but slightly above the same and above the level of the tables, said burner-tubes being provided with jet-openings so disposed as to produce an upward and a downward flame, respectively, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED WUNDERLY,

Witnesses:

H. E. OLEWELL, CHAS. I-I. KERN. 

